Tonight I had the pleasure of meeting meeting two great bands; one literally and the other figuratively. I went to see fellow Ghostly artists School of Seven Bells play at Slim’s here in San Francisco and their performance was incredible. But having seen them live before, I pretty much expected that. It was the opening act — Warpaint — that were the big surprise of the night.

Warpaint are a Los Angeles based “psychedelic” band and I’d have to say that description is apt. I spent most of the set mesmerized by them, sort of in a trance. This is one of those bands that I dream of producing a record for someday. Bassist Jenny Lindberg and her Rickenbacker carved out the low end as if from stone and the guitarists were all over it with the kind of stripped down, melodic style I’m a sucker for. I’m not easily moved by live rock music performances but this one had me running over to the merch booth to snag a CD before the set was even half way over. The hilight of the show was an ultra-somber yet perfectly timed rendition of their song “Billie Holiday” which left me in awe (and remionded me of another favorite from Grouper). As soon as I got home I popped the CD in, hoping it would live up to their live energy and was pleasantly surprised to hear that it did. It’s raw, unpolished, and at times sounds like a jam session accidentally caught on tape, and it’s beautiful. The only thing I’d change would be the drums on the album version of Billie holiday; they were absent from the live version and I think it was a little more focused without them.

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Aw cool, we played with Warpaint earlier this year and I’d have to agree with your sentiments. I love music that is raw and somehow creates a totally engulfing atmosphere around you. It was definitely my experience, I hope to catch them again this tour when they return to LA.

Dmitri says:

The encore on Billy Holliday is intelligent and indeed trance-like. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience them live… When the vocal is absent, it’s sort of a Mogwai-ish sound, or is it just me?

Great post. I just had a similar experience seeing them in Los Angeles on Monday. It got a little jammy at times, but their rhythm section was incredible and I couldn’t take my eyes off of the bass player. Looking forward to seeing them as much as possible when they come home.

Dougie says:

The girl on the photo is not Shannyn, it’s her sister Jenny. Shannyn plays drums on three songs, she played with the band in 2007. The core of the band is Emily-Theresa-Jenny, they change drummers regularly. On tour they’re playing with M. Quinn (Corridor).

Warpaint sure is an awesome act! I really enjoyed the songs and they served as the best bait for me to want to hear and experience more of them. Are there any YouTube clips of them going around? Unfortunately the chances of ever seeing them live is pretty much nil for me, living in South Africa and all.